University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Postville Project Documents Postville Project April 2019 The Day Democracy Died: The Postville Raid and the Criminalization of Migrants Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/postville_documents Part of the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons Recommended Citation "The Day Democracy Died: The Postville Raid and the Criminalization of Migrants" (2019). Postville Project Documents. 45. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/postville_documents/45 This Document is brought to you for free and open access by the Postville Project at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Postville Project Documents by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Day Democracy Died: The Postville Raid and the Criminalization of Migrants Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D.* “We must also find a sensible and humane way to deal with people here illegally. Illegal immigration is complicated, but it can be resolved. And it must be resolved in a way that upholds both our laws and our highest ideals.”1 – George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, January 28, 2008. Introduction: The Postville Raid It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Postville in contemporary American history and social policy. On May 12, 2008, this tiny Heartland farm town, secluded amid the rolling hills and cornfields of Northern Iowa, became the site of the largest immigration raid in U.S. history.2 Of the 389 people arrested, three quarters were Kaq’chikel ethnic Mayans from the hills of Chimaltenango, Guatemala.3 Only five (1.2%) had minor criminal records.4 Yet they were all arraigned on felony charges of identity theft, making this an unprecedented criminalization of migrant workers.